For two months because of the pandemic, Tommy Brunett, his wife Jen and Iron Smoke Distillery staff in Fairport tried to stay afloat and, to qualify as an essential company, went from distilling whiskey to generating hand sanitizers.
They worked long hours, promoting business and on-site, while donating 1,000 bottles of hand sanitist per week to keep at-risk staff safe.
Now that closing is easier, Brunett is taking a new direction, focusing on national attention while selling his tasting room and area for occasions on site.
“I’m focusing on expanding the logo right now,” Brunett said.
This means national popularity for its signature Forbidden Apple Pie whisky from Rattlesnake Rosie’s, as well as its handcrafted maple and bourbon bacon whisky made with local maple syrup.
There is also Casket Strength Straight Bourbon whiskey and directly smoked Bourbon whiskey with applewood. If all this sounds fashionable, it is. But Brunett like that before.
Long before whiskey became the latest beverage trend, Brunett made the product because he enjoyed it himself. He had returned to Rochester, New York, and sipping a fried fish and drinking whiskey with friends when he proposed the concept of iron smoke. In 2012, Iron Smoke began distilling whiskey and moved to its facility in Fairport, a former American Can Co. apartment, in 2014.
In collaboration with its business partners, Brunett has set out to commercialize his love of smart whisky. His business card was his time as a traveling guitarist for Modern English. The band is known for their hit song “I Melt With You”, which is heard on the soundtrack to the 1983 film “Valley Girls” starring Nicholas Cage. It is an instant verbal exchange initiator.
The son of a U. S. Marine, Brunett grew up in Webster listening to the band Kiss. He worked at the mythical House of Guitars in Irondequoit, where he met music legends such as Steven Tyler, which encouraged him to travel to New York to pursue a career. in music.
This led him down a rock of paths, from singer to songwriter and guitarist. Brunett and his band, Tommy Brunett Band, have been the opening acts for bands such as ZZ Top, Ted Nugent, Marshall Tucker and Kellie Pickler. She has starred in “The Today Show” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”.
Brunett went from acting to painting in marketing and branding. He owned a New York-based art marketing company with clients such as Olympus, Sony, Universal Studios, DreamWorks, MTV and Disney. Smoking.
The surroundings of the Fairport distillery are rejuvenated with new shops. Iron Smoke’s exterior maintains its rustic commercial roots.
Within the factory area at 111 Because Ave. , the warehouse is a mixture of functional and eclectic. A 36-foot mahogany bar is the highlight. The area of the occasion is decorated in Victorian style, with furniture of yesteryear. promoting whiskies, maple syrup and T-shirts. T-shirts were very popular; other people seem to like the skeleton design, Brunett said.
Iron Smoke occupies 21,000 feet of the cavernous warehouse space of the former factory, with 30 employees.
“It takes a village to make a bottle of whiskey, ” said Brunett.
Iron Smoke whisky named one of the 10 most sensible bourbons beyond Kentucky through Forbes magazine, which helped increase sales, Brunett said.
Brunett now has regional vendors across the country to advertise artisan whiskey made on a farm in New York State.
“I need to build a legacy,” he said. It’s humiliating that we had this concept far from being a backyard. “
MCHAO@Gannett. com